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Home › Articles › Babies › Baby's First Emotions

Baby's First Emotions

Learning to Identify and Nurture Little Feelings

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Baby's First Emotions-Learning to Identify and Nurture Little Feelings"My son was, and is, a very introspective, serious child who takes some time to warm up in different social situations," says Amy Blustein of Providence, R.I. "In the beginning, we really beat ourselves up about this. If we hadn't been so doting and had let him play on his own more, perhaps it would have been different. Once we accepted that he is simply a quiet, reserved little boy – very similar to my husband's personality as a child – it's been easier to handle." On the other hand, the couple's 9-month-old daughter is already showing signs of being more outgoing and easygoing, she says.

"There are basically three categories," Folds says. "There's the easy child, who has a sunny disposition and is easily adaptable; the difficult child, who reacts negatively and cries frequently and the slow-to-start child, who has a low level of emotional activity. That simply means you might need to work a little harder at establishing routines to calm your difficult child, or you might have to prod your slow-to-warm-up-baby a little to get that smile."

As long as your baby is experiencing a wide range of emotions, there's probably no need for concern. But if your baby is placid, never expressing emotions like surprise, anger or joy or is not interested in interacting, you should talk to your pediatrician, says Dr. Unger.

Parent Story
Capturing the Moment

Every parent wants to bear witness to their child's milestones. Shelly Hemig, mother of two from New Castle, Colo., was no exception on the day her son tried to roll from his stomach to his back.

While encouraging him, "I felt like I was talking to a puppy and not my precious baby boy. But he was so close to his first big movement milestone," she says.

"He rested on his belly, head up, a big smile on his face. Then he stuck his arms out, stuck his tongue out and gave me the cutest raspberry. He looked like an airplane about to take off. I ran to get the camera."

But when Hemig returned, her son was on his back. She was elated that he succeeded, but disappointed she had missed it.

"I wanted to see him roll over. He wasn't supposed to do it while I was out of the room," she says. "I rolled him onto his stomach again, put the camera in front of my face and waited. And waited. And waited."

Just as Hemig was about to give up, "He did it," she says. "I had the camera at the ready, and I captured the whole thing in a series of three photographs. The first had him on his tummy, resting on his elbows. The second showed him on his side. In the final picture he was on his back with another one of his whole-face smiles. I not only got to see it, I recorded it for posterity."


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